I love reading all of the amazing and wonderful reviews so thank you all so much! I know Bella is really going through it right now and I'll be honest it doesn't get any easier for her for a while, but it will all work out in the end. I'll be posting chapters once I have the following one written and am trying to stockpile them so I can have as much of the story done faster for you all. Enjoy this next one!

I'm in pain. That's the only thing that comes to mind when I come to. My eyes flutter open as I try to sit up with a groan but I'm immediately pushed back down.

"Rest, princess," a velvety voice says. His tone is gentle, more so than I'm used to.

I turn my head to the side and meet Edward's gaze. He's holding my hand, a worried frown on his beautiful face. I take a quick glance around to find that I'm in his room. On his bed.

"I'm okay," I promise, trying to sit up again. This time, he helps me, shifting the pillows behind my back for support. "How long was I out?"

"Only a couple minutes," he promises.

There's a knock on the door and Emmet comes in with a glass of water and something else in his hand. He hands them to Edward, giving me a sad smile before leaving us alone in the room again.

Edward offers me the glass of water which I take, but I refuse the pills he tries to hand me. My head wasn't hurting too badly and I knew they would make me sleepy. He hasn't let go of my hand this entire time and the sensation of him rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand was more than enough to keep me awake.

"What happened, princess?" He asks, reaching out towards my face. He hesitates before brushing his hand along my cheek, but I wince from the pain, pulling back.

"I'm fine," I lie, giving him a smile that is much too weak to be genuine.

"He hurt you. Again. I can't just sit here and let him hurt you," he grits out. I can see that he's trying hard to control his anger.

"It's nothing I can't handle," I say. I could handle the physical wrath of my father. It was his words, his belittling that stayed with me.

"But you shouldn't have to," Edward says. His hands ball up into fists and I can tell he's already starting to blame himself for something that is completely out of his control.

I didn't want to dwell on my injuries that would heal in time. Especially when I had more important things to bring up.

"The prince is coming tomorrow. I might not get to see you for a couple days," I tell him, already feeling the sadness from knowing I'll be away from him.

"Your fiance," Edward says, looking down.

I hated this wall he was putting up between us. But more than that, I hated the situation I was in. Not when there was someone else I wanted.

"I don't want to marry him," I remind him, but it's not much of a consolation.

Edward looks up, his green eyes filled with an intensity that shocks me. "But you have to," he says, repeating what I had been telling him before. "Duty over desire, right?" There's something else in his gaze as he says these words, but the thoughts in my head are too much that I choose to ignore it.

Because in this moment, for the first time in my life, I wanted to choose my desire over my duty. Would it be so harmful if I didn't go through with this marriage? But I knew there was no possible way my father would ever let me out of this. Unless…

"We could run away," I suggest, not daring to look at Edward. This entire idea hinged on what I felt for him. Was I being completely blinded by my naivete? Maybe I'm completely overplaying our relationship. In this short time together, I had fallen completely and irrevocably in love with Edward, but what if he didn't feel the same way?

There's no answer from him, and when I finally look up, he's just staring at me, in shock or disbelief or something else, I'm not sure.

"Never mind," I mumble, falling back against the pillows. I would give anything to burrow myself under the blankets in my own room right now.

"Princess," Edward says. When I don't answer him, he gently lifts my chin to look at him.

"It was a stupid idea," I mumble, darting my eyes around to look anywhere but at him. "Just forget I ever said anything."

He shakes his head. "I would take you and run in a heartbeat. Hell, I've been tempted to since that first day. But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because of him," Edward hisses and I know he's talking about my father. "Because if we make one wrong move and he finds out? I'm terrified of what he would do to you. And I'm not going to put you in that kind of danger when I can't guarantee your safety."

It hurt to hear, but I knew he was right. Even if we did escape, I didn't think my father would stop looking for us until he found me. And with the entirety of the Alynthian royal guard, he most likely would. And then what? He would certainly kill Edward, and I didn't want to think about what he would do to me. Where would we even go? It's not like Edward remembers where he came from, or where his family is. And wandering outside of the kingdom, there were other dangers outside of my father.

"Besides, you'll be out of his clutches soon enough," Edward says, drawing my attention back to him. "The prince. At the very least he'll help you escape this place."

"But he's not you!" I cry out, launching myself at Edward. "I don't want to be with him."

"Princess-"

"I want you," I whisper, admitting to him the feelings I had kept inside.

"Bella," Edward's voice sounds pained and he wraps his arms around me tighter. Not enough to press on my bruises but just enough to make me feel safe.

"Please, Edward," I beg. I'm not sure what I want to come out of this, but I want him to know that what I feel for him is real.

"I would do anything to keep you safe."

I know what he's saying. He would let me go, let me marry another man, if it would ensure my safety from my father. And that just made me fall in love with him a little more.

"You can keep me safe," I tell him.

"Not in the way he can," Edward already sounds resigned, burying his face into my hair.

He's right. This man that I'm supposed to marry would never be able to keep me safe the way Edward could. He might think this stranger can offer me a safe haven, but I already had one. Just knowing Edward was here, that he would put my needs first, gave me enough strength to endure anything my father threw at me. As long as he was with me.

"Please, Edward," I repeat, only this time, I know what I want. I pull back slightly, just enough to press my lips to his. I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing, but I start slow, brushing my lips over his, then pressing a little harder. I'm craving his comfort but I can feel him hesitate.

"Princess, I can't," he says, trying to pull away.

"I need you," I say, looking into his eyes so he can see how much. I don't know what he's searching for, but he seems to find it because he crushes his lips to mine and we fall back on the bed. He braces himself to keep his weight off of me and I wrap my arms around his neck to bring him closer. He darts his tongue out, tracing my lower lip, and I gasp at the new sensation, allowing him access to kiss me deeper.

I don't try to control the sounds coming from me and I run my hands along his shirt, pushing it up to feel his hard muscles under them. He lets out a groan when my hand makes contact with his bare skin and I push my hips up, my body searching for more, but I don't know what. He thrusts forward and that's when I feel something long and hard pushing between my legs, creating a friction that feels almost too good. Who knew my body could feel this way?

"Princess," Edward pants out. "We have to stop."

"I don't want to," I say, pushing against him again.

Edward groans, and I move to kiss his jawline. "Princess-" he chokes out.

Edward pushes himself up, far enough away that I can't reach him anymore. We're both panting and I catch my breath, looking at him. His eyes are closed and he looks to be in pain. But by the bulge in his pants, I think he was enjoying what we did as much as I was.

I don't try to hide my disappointment as Edward shifts to sit next to me, taking my hand in his.

"Don't pout like that, Princess," he says, his eyes still darker than usual. "You don't know what that does to me." He runs his thumb along my lower lip and I suck it back in.

"I l-" Edward cuts himself off, clearing his throat and running a hand through his hair. "I care about you a lot, Princess. You mean a lot to me. That's why I can't…taint you."

"Taint me?" I scoff. "You're not going to taint me."

"You're promised to another. I'm not going to steal your virtue. Even if you don't care, he might."

I sigh, knowing that, again, Edward is right. If I acted out now and gave myself to Edward the way that I wanted to, the way my mother always said should only happen between a husband and wife, there was a chance the prince would break off the marriage. After all, if it hasn't been consummated, it doesn't count in the eyes of our kingdom. And if that happened, I would be right back here.

"You're too good to me," I tell him, leaning my head against his shoulder.

Edward huffs, shaking his head. "I'm not good enough for you."

"But you are," I counter, turning his face to look at me. He places his hand over mine, pressing it into his cheek. "I haven't had anyone care about me, the way you do, since my mother passed away. I wish things could be different." I try to blink away the tears that have started to pool in my eyes, failing miserably.

"Please don't cry, Princess," Edward says, leaning forward to kiss the tears on my cheeks. "This can be a good thing. You could be happy."

"Not without you," I say, feeling my stubborn nature taking over.

"Yes, without me," Edward says. "And if this is all the time I have with you, I would die a happy man."

I expect some happiness at his confession but all I feel is a pain in my chest.

"It hurts," I say, my voice small.

"Your face?" Edward examines the bruise that I'm sure is forming on my cheek.

I shake my head, and I think he understands. He kisses my hair, pulling me to him, and I lean into his shoulder, breathing in his scent, committing it to memory.

We sit there in silence for a long time, until I can see the sun setting outside of the window.

"You should get back to your room," Edward mumbles against my hair.

"Just a little longer. I want to be with you a little longer. Please?" I look up at him.

"Anything you want," he gives me a soft smile and I snuggle back into his side.

I don't even notice I had fallen asleep until I wake up feeling stiff. I'm still in the same position as last night, sitting up against the headboard, wrapped around Edward who was lightly snoring next to me. His bronze hair looks red in the sunlight streaming in and I can't help reaching out to run my hand through it, down his neck, and tracing his jawline.

"That tickles, Princess," Edward mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

"Sorry," I giggle, bringing my hand down but his words stop me.

"Don't stop," he says, his eyes still closed. My smile gets bigger as I resume tracing his face, over his eyes, down his cheeks, across his lips. Edward's mouth quirks up into that crooked grin that takes my breath away and his eyes flutter open.

"Good morning," I say, my hand resting against his cheek and he immediately leans into it.

"Yes it is," he says, and I love the way his eyes light up with warmth.

"I have to go soon," I tell him regrettably. I wanted nothing more than to stay here with him all day but I knew I would be in big trouble if I wasn't there to greet the prince when he got here.

"I know," he says. Then he kisses me, so much passion behind it, that it feels like he's saying goodbye. But before I can deepen it, he pulls away.

"I'll try to come see you if I can," I promise.

Edward walks me the few feet to his door and I turn to face him, trying to prolong going for as long as possible.

"Are you sure we can't run away?" I ask, my lame attempt at a joke falling flat.

"I'm sure," Edward presses his forehead to mine. "You need to go."

I know he doesn't mean it in a dismissive way, but I still hate hearing the words. Still, I reluctantly nod, turning away from him, refusing to look back until I was safely in my room. I don't think I could handle seeing the look on his face, and I knew it wouldn't take much to send me running back to him.

But I still had a duty to my kingdom that I was forced to go through with. I think Angela could tell I was feeling quite down as she helped me get dressed. Since I was meeting my betrothed for the first time, it would require something a bit more formal than what I usually wore. Angela picks out a light green long sleeve dress and the color reminded me so much of Edward's eyes that I almost refused to wear it, but at the last second decided it would actually provide me with some comfort. Almost like I had a part of him with me. The fabric itched though, and the dark green overlay was a little heavy for my liking. At least she didn't try to squeeze me into a corset.

Angela braids my hair into an intricate loop I could never recreate on my own before placing a small crown on top of my head. It used to be my mother's before she married my father, and she gave it to me before she passed. It was different from all the others I owned, gold instead of silver and colorful jewels adorning the top. Jasper always said it looked too childish to be worn in public company but hopefully my father would let it slide today.

"Are you ready, your highness?" Emmet asks when Angela and I emerge from my room.

I take a deep breath, looking over longingly towards Edwards room. I shake myself out of my thoughts. Now was not the time nor the place. I was about to meet my future husband.

So I turn back to Emmet, nodding my head, and following him towards the main hall and towards my unknown future.